The problem Hillary has is simply that she is part and parcel representative of the corrupt political Establishment and, in that sense, not different than any of her Republican counterparts with the exception of Donald Trump.
Reality is politicians fund their campaigns with money from people who they then pander to. That's just a fact and, with the exception of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump every other politician in this race is bought and paid for by big money interests who bankroll their campaigns.
Bernie is the one and only candidate who is bankrolled by the voters while Trump has more than enough cash to self fund his campaign.
That's the accusation Clinton made during a testy exchange March 31 with a Greenpeace activist when Clinton was asked while shaking hands with people if she would start rejecting fossil-fuel money in her campaign.
"I do not have," Clinton said, then stopping herself and beginning again. "I have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies. I am so sick. I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. I’m sick of it."
Clinton wasn't specific about the alleged lie she was talking about, and her campaign didn't give a specific answer when we asked.
Neither Clinton nor Sanders — or any other presidential candidate, for that matter — can accept money from fossil fuel companies (or any other corporation). That would be illegal under federal campaign finance laws.
So all the money in the coffers comes from individuals. The limit is $1,000 per candidate per election (the primary and general election count separately). Political action committees can donate $5,000 per election to a candidate.
In fact, people in the fossil fuel industry have given to both campaigns, though they’ve donated more to Clinton.
According to the latest tallies from Center for Responsive Politics, Clinton's campaign has received $307,561 from people who work for oil and gas interests so far in the presidential race. Sanders has received nearly six times fewer dollars — $53,760.
For Clinton, that's 0.2 percent of the more than $159.9 million her campaign committee, Hillary for America, has raised. For Sanders, it's 0.04 percent of $139.8 million.
Super PACs supporting Clinton have directly given an additional $25,701. Sanders does not have a super PAC.
So far, 97.7 percent of donations from people connected the oil and gas industry have gone to Republicans.
But in Clinton’s case, that doesn't include "bundlers," a fancy name for fundraisers who collect money from individual donors and bundle the money together for a campaign.
A bundler might, for example, arrange to have each executive from an oil company, along with each adult member of his or her family, give $1,000 per person, which is bundled together and given to the campaign. It's legal because the individuals aren't violating the per-person limit.
Sorting out Hillary Clinton’s fossil fuel contributions
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